School Year Teens 09-10 - Session 4

Hi Parents,

Judging by the group's demeanor tonight, Jingle Bells and Hanukah Harry are in full force. Lots of good cheer among the teens. We started the night off reviewing the LUNCH Points program so they can help you if needed. Spent a little time viewing some YouTube animations and discussing how they are likely made.

Since it's the holidays, we went for a special meal at Tony Roma's. They had ribs, burgers, pasta, and spent a lot of time interacting with one another. I tried to impress upon them the continuing importance of actually acknowledging and paying attention to the wait staff, when they ask questions or bring food.... some success.

One problem arose that we weren't fully aware of, even though it happened right under our noses. One teen took food from another's plate and the second teen wound up scratching the first. Ironically, I sat right next to the teen who was scratched and asked why he was bleeding, but didn't receive an answer. However I did encourage him to gently wash the affected areas. We will address this in January to insure they respect boundaries to avoid this kind of occurrence in the future. Stay tuned!

Sophie made her first appearance of the year and was resoundingly received by nearly all. In comparing her visit with the kids last night to the teen's reaction tonight, the teens were more excited, which was unexpected.

Lots of "Hero" tickets were distributed as we prepare for our first raffle next meeting, at the same time as the parent meeting on January 7th (Thursday) at 6pm. We'll be having two raffles that night. A "blue ticket" raffle, where everyone has an opportunity to win a prize and our "hero ticket" raffle, where 1/2 the group members win. The LUNCH Points certificates will earn them last minute additional tickets good toward participation in each raffle.

If you have any questions about how the group is running, the January meeting is an excellent time to pose them. Also, we have one last piece of technology to roll out: invitations to the closed Parent Network. This is a place where all parents from both groups can share information and resources.

If you celebrate Hanukah or Christmas, here's a little old fashioned humor

Download:

FLVMP43GP

Download:

FLVMP43GP

Have a wonderful rest of 2009. Looking forward to a continued successful and enjoyable 2010 with your kids.

Bruce

School Year Teens 09-10 - Session 3

Hi, Parents:

Tonight, we had everyone there; quite an accomplishment. Congratulations for pulling it off. As far as the group itself, it was an interesting and enjoyable night for pretty much everyone, I think. The group settled in quickly. Two of the group members (the two “C’s”) decided that they would hold session #2 of their “talk show.” They went around an asked group members what they had done since Thanksgiving. We then turned the tables on the two “C’s” once we went into the large group. The people who had offered information were asked to raise their hands, and each of the “C’s” had to guess what they remembered of what the other teen had said. It went off pretty well and appeared to be pretty good-natured. Also, we learned that seven other group members would also like to be “talk show hosts.” So, kind of an impromptu activity, but one that the majority of them seemed to enjoy.

Some of the kids had just a little bit of trouble settling in, either complaining a bit more than the others (“E”) or asking an excessive number of questions (“J” and “G”). But, within a short period of time, all of them had settled in and appeared to be enjoying themselves. After updating the kids about the upcoming LUNCH points program, which will begin on Monday, they went around, and each added different behaviors that they wanted to be able to work on outside of group. This was impressive, in that this was probably the greatest number of additional behaviors that I have every seen in a group session. Whether it is due to how I run things or the members themselves, I haven’t a clue, but it was impressive to watch. So, you will be seeing that as part of the LUNCH points program; where, if your behavior report matches what they said they wanted to do, there will be some bonus points for them.

Finally, we talked about the kinds of projects we would do, and it was fairly evenly divided. About half of the group liked doing the technology, and the other half of the group wanted to do something else. So, since we have four adults plus myself, we are going to divide in half, and next session that is exactly what we plan to do. Some of the group will be playing games, and other members of the group will be doing some technology. The in-office portion of the group ended with me teaching them how to do something called an animated “jist.” It is a simple online way for them to create a single picture that can do very simple animation.

Then it was time to go off to Uncle Chen’s. Everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves. They certainly ate enough! I talked to them about really working on manners while they were there, and, by and large, the group really showed some nice manners. Since they didn’t have sodas at the group (except for one), we ended the evening with ice cream Drumsticks from Gelsons, and they had a chance to hang out just a little more before parents arrived.

So, that wraps it up. A good evening overall. Look for the online LUNCH points tutorials, located under “current families.” Please contact us if you have any questions. -- Bruce

School Year Teens 09-10 - Session 2

Hi, Parents:

Tonight went surprisingly smoothly. We had a total of thirteen teenagers. Two were absent, and we currently have one opening. The combination of alumni members dominating the group, with fewer new members actually seems to be working quite nicely because it facilitates conversations among all group members. The alumni members are acting “true to form,” where they are asking questions and being inviting to the other members.

The group came in, and one of the group members, (“E”) expressly stated that she did not want to go to Numero Uno, which, unfortunately and coincidentally is where we had already made reservations. This was difficult for her to manage, but, after a short period of time talking with one of the counselors, she was able to come back in and demonstrate some positive coping strategies for being able to manage that, and earn hero tickets along the way. (For any parent who doesn’t know what a hero ticket is: that is when you do something that is low probability or difficult for you.) Other group members tried to help the single member who was not wanting to go to Numero Uno. They offered suggestions, some helpful and some less helpful, but the positive intent was there.

The group then moved on to reviewing their nicknames, and one group member who had been coming up with more violent or negative nicknames (“C”) felt that he was perhaps being singled out or that it was unfair that other people were getting to choose names that were similar to the one that wasn’t considered acceptable for him. It was positive that he was able to then choose a name that the group felt wouldn’t be excessively violent or socially offensive. After reviewing their names, some members of the group added additional behaviors which will be shown at the parent meeting in the first week of December, and then they narrated each of their own profiles and what they planned to work on.

We left at about 5:35 to go to dinner, and did eat at Numero Uno. Everyone seemed to have a pretty relaxed time. Some group members worked a little bit more on manners, some worked on conversations, and some worked on not being excessively silly or provocative. Overall, however, it was a pretty tame and uneventful meeting, and they seemed to have a good time. Two group members who had previously been a little more shy in the beginning of the group showed dramatic improvement with how conversational they became. (“D” and “J”)

In any case, it was a good night, and we look forward to seeing you for the December meetings with a parent meeting for dinner in the first week in December. -- Bruce